BHARATI PAWASKAR
Come monsoon and the Goans prepare themselves to welcome the first showers of the rain with their kitchens full of dried chilies, sola, salt, aamlyo, pickles, jams, vinegars, papads and vadiyo and not to forget the dried fish. The villages in Goa one by one celebrate the week-long Purumentachem fest wherein the people get to buy all they need for the entire year round. Initiated last year in May was a similar concept, in its modern avatar - ‘Goan Foodomania Purument Bazar’ which is celebrating its second edition this May.
Picking up the very same concept of ‘Purument fest’ and presenting it in a modern avatar - ‘Goan Foodomania Purument Bazar’ was an instant hit and walking on the same footsteps, this year the same organisers are holding the second edition of this annual event.
After the super successful response in Panaji last summer, this year the second edition is happening at Margao’s Ravindra Bhavan on May 25 and 26. “It was the our ever organisation of Goan Foodomania Purument Bazar in 2018 at Panaji and having witnessed a stupendous success last year, we are now looking forward to hold this annual event in the commercial capital of Goa this year,” admit the organisers in one voice.
Purument is a concept that echoes of Goenkarponn, which was well evident in the huge number of enthusiastic participants last year - from vendors to the consumers. The few stalls that were lined up in the Purument Bazar 2018 in Panaji had registered mega sales and the stocks on their shelves were sold out within a day, which was an indication that there’s a large scale demand for such homemade food items in Goan kitchens. The entire advertisement of this Purument Bazar had the backing of the Facebook food group Goan Foodomania, founded by food lovers in Goa and joined by foodies across the globe. And just by using their food group for advertising, the power of social media was there for everyone to see.
The Facebook group Goan Foodomania which has 10000 plus members across the globe, who post food pictures, reviews, cooking tips, restaurant experiences, mother’s recipes and grandma’s secret formulas, traditional dishes, photos clicked by the members of authentic, original, home cooked food items or readymade restaurant food products. With daily around 50 new photos uploaded on the Facebook page ‘Goan Foodomania’ has millions of food photos uploaded by their members.
With items like pickles, juices, masalas, wines, fruits, etc Purument sales has moved from the roadside to organised fetes like these. Purument Bazar will have items like red chillies, turmeric powder, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin seeds, corriander seeds, tamarind, dried kokum, dried mango, dried fish, various kinds of pickles, papad, halvo, vadyo, sandge, saatha, coconut oil, coconut jaggery, par boiled rice, alsaande, onion, ragi, cashew nuts, seasonal fruits like mangoes, pineapples, jackfruits and much more! Add to the list rare items like kangache ghoss and mhana. This year, the organisers have worked very hard to make the event even better. They expect more traditional Purument items to be available, and with some rare stuff - variety being the key word. And with enthusiastic vendors turning up from places like Pernem to Canacona and even Karwar and Konkan, excitement is pretty much in the air.
The founder and admin of the Facebook group ‘Goan Foodomania’ and the brain behind Purument Bazar concept Ashwini Kamat Tendulkar expresses, “I want to see happy faces all around as far as the bazaar goes - be it consumers with their shopping to the vendors at the end of the event.” Natasha Lawande, another admin shares, “Bringing traditional shopping in one mould and letting people get all their needs under one roof means more satisfied consumers. And it helps a lot considering the hot summers.” Brijesh Naik is of the opinion, “Our women centric bazaar helps female entrepreneurs to build up their confidence a lot.”
This year, the bazaar expects new products like organic mushroom pickles, rare fruits, and likewise. Also new vendors like Syamantak, will be there with their unique sun-dried pickles and syrups like that of Bael fruit and red Hibiscus flowers.
Co-founder of Goan Foodomania, Prasad Raicar feels that traditions like Purument are important so that the younger generation doesn’t forget what it means. “And without tradition, our identities will be history too. Economically, these bazaars help the eager entrepreneurs and the group continues to help them even after the event through advertisement and sales,” states Prasad.
Ashwini who conceived this super idea to give a platform to the members of the group to sell their homemade Purument stocks is backed with a supportive team of co-admins, Prasad V Raicar from Margao, Brijesh Naik from Mapusa, Deepa Bharne and Kiran Parrikar from Panaji, Vidya Kenkre Nadkarni from Curchorem and Natasha Desai Lavande from outside Goa - who are all set to make the Purument Bazar a great success. This concept was born out of the sheer urge to help the members of the FB group who were making many food items but had no idea to sell or market them. The admins have tried to bring such members under one umbrella and offer them a platform for their products that speak of the rich food culture in Goa and rejuvenate the traditions that are followed in regional food habits.
